


A Moment for Those They Lost

by Regen



Category: Dragon Age: Origins
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-13
Updated: 2016-02-13
Packaged: 2018-05-20 06:42:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5995345
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Regen/pseuds/Regen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Just minutes before the wedding, a brother and a sister reminisce on what's been lost and what could have been.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Moment for Those They Lost

Today was supposed to be one of the happiest days of Riona’s life. That’s what her mother and all the other ladies always told her, anyway. Though she hardly gave the nebulous day much thought in her childhood, she never expected the fanfare and circumstance she faced now. She was marrying a king, after all, and she was to be queen when it was done. Best of all, she was marrying the man she’d come to love. Nothing could be better.

And yet, sadness weighed on her.

The servants and bridesmaids tittering around her seemed to pay no notice to her melancholy. If they did, they were resolute to ignore it. The morning flew by in a whirl of activity and fabric; it felt like she had blinked once and suddenly there she stood, garbed in her dress. She looked beautiful; the women had done an excellent job.

But her mind was preoccupied with something else, and she fought but failed to look happy, as a bride should be.

Her hands clutched tightly together. The seamstress on hand to make any last minute alterations smiled up at her as she adjusted the hem. “Nervous, my lady?”

“I…”

A knock on the door spared her from having to answer. A servant cracked open the door, peering out to see who it was. A moment later, she swung it open further, revealing Fergus, donned in his finest.

He glanced up at Riona, and it took all of a few seconds before his expression softened in understanding. “Almost done, ladies?” he asked. “They’re just about ready for her.”

“One minor fix, my lord, and she’ll be set,” the seamstress said, quickly ducking her head to finish her work.

He nodded. “Once you’re done, may I have a moment alone with her?”

A strange request, especially with the ceremony just minutes away. The ladies looked to Riona for an answer, clearly unsure as to how she felt about the request.

But she knew her brother, and she suspected he only wanted to talk. So she nodded in affirmation.

As the seamstress finished her alteration, the other women began cleaning up, chatting excitedly (if not a little nervously) amongst themselves. The volume in the room remained high until they were all done and exited out of the room, leaving Riona and Fergus alone.

She offered him a smile, a sign that she wasn’t a total nervous wreck. He answered with one of his own, though his expression sobered as he stepped closer to her, just within arms’ reach.

He took her hands in his and gave them a squeeze. “It sort of occurred to me this morning… but it’s really hitting me now: I shouldn’t be the one doing this. It should be Father giving you away.”

His words voiced her thoughts as well. “Not that I’m not happy to have you walk me down the aisle, or that I have you still to see me today, but… yes. You’re right.”

Fergus sighed softly. “I know. I should be out there with Oriana and Oren, keeping him from getting too excited. He’d have loved all the excitement and regalia.” He smiled weakly. “And I should be out there with Mother, consoling her.”

At that, Riona snorted indelicately. “Oh, come now. She’s been – she’d been trying to get me married for a while. This would have been a dream come true.”

“Ah, you’re not wrong…” Fergus smirked. “But honestly, Sister, I have a feeling that when it came down to it, when the day actually came, she’d have been beside herself. You two may have butted heads sometimes but she loved you dearly, and would have been grieved to lose you.”

“Perhaps so.” She nodded, agreeing with it the more she thought about it.

She lapsed into silence, chewing over what was said and trying to find comfort in them. Yet something still tugged at her thoughts, keeping the shroud of grief hanging over her.

Fergus sensed her continued unease and tucked her arm under his. “Something else is bothering you. We’ve still got a few minutes, I promise.” He nudged her. “Tell me.”

“Do you think…” She looked up at him, eyes wide with pleading that he’d have the answer she was looking for. It was a look she gave him all the time when she was younger and turned to him for everything. “Would they have liked Alistair?”

Fergus glanced away, his worry turning to consideration.

As he thought over the question, Riona added, “I know he’s the king and all, but do you think they would have approved of him? As a person, as my husband?” Even just by asking, she already felt a bit of the weight lift off of her.

“You know, I thought about that the other day,” he admitted. “Mother, I think, would have been a little… skeptical, at first.”

“You mean she wouldn’t have approved.”

“Not right away. To be fair, even I had a hard time knowing what to make of him at first. Your betrothed, for all his humor and good-natured bumbling, is a very guarded man.”

Riona nodded. It was just how Alistair was. She knew of the reasons behind it, but she understood where Fergus was coming from. It had been like that for her, too, once upon a time.

“He isn’t the dignified, graceful, pleasing noble man she envisioned for you.” Fergus smiled wistfully. “But I also believe that, when she got to know him and understand him a little better, she would have adored him. He’s a loyal, good man and eventually she’d have seen that.”

That was Riona’s belief, too, but it relieved her to hear her brother say the same. “And probably would have mothered him to death, too.”

“Undoubtedly.”

She paused, her grip on his arm tightening. “And Father?”

That earned a huff of laughter from him. “Well, let’s face it: _no one_ would ever have been good enough for you in Father’s eyes. It’s why you got to go so long without being engaged or anything of the sort.”

“So Mother always said, much to her dismay.”

“But… I think Father would have liked him. Knowing how much you love him, and how much he loves you…” He gave her arm a squeeze. “He’d have known he’d been overruled. And if you truly wanted it, he’d have given his blessing.” He laughed again. “Him being a swordsman – and a pretty good one from what I hear – certainly would have helped.”

And that had been her thoughts on it, too. She was glad to know her biasedness hadn’t colored her perspective too much. “Father would have tested him, no doubt. If anything, to make sure he was on my level. He’d have known I’d go mad if I didn’t have a good sparring partner.”

“Father always had his priorities in a row, let me tell you.”

Riona tried to laugh. “Again, to Mother’s consternation.”

Fergus nodded, his eyes distant as he looked off into another part of the room. “…Oren, he would have-”

Riona had wondered about Oren and Oriana as well, but she hesitated to bring them up. Those wounds were deeper for Fergus than for her. Sensing his struggle to continue, she said, “He would have adored him. Someone new to play with him and indulge him.”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “Oriana would have… well, I don’t think she’d ever have fully understood him. At least, it would have taken her awhile. But, knowing how much he meant to you, she’d have done everything in her power to get to know him and make him feel welcome.”

The wellspring of emotion she’d been keeping at bay all day, the grief and sadness, finally broke. Her eyes squeezed shut, fighting back tears. Fergus immediately pulled her into a hug, mindful of her dress and face cosmetics.

Brother and sister held each other for a long moment, sharing in that pain. It was theirs and theirs alone: a spot of grief in a happy day. But the dead and lost deserved to be remembered in a time of joy. They both owed their family that much.

“He’d have finally had a family who wanted him,” she said. “I wish I could have given that to him.”

“Me, too,” Fergus murmured. “But he’s got you, and he’ll have a brother-in-law. Not much, maybe, but it’s something.”

They pulled apart, Riona smiling shakily as she tried to rein in her emotions. Fergus fussed at her dress a little, smoothing it out where he had ruffled it from the hug.

“You’re right,” she said, pressing under her eyes to hold the tears back. “And I know he’s grateful for it. And excited, I think.”

“And very nervous, I might add,” Fergus said, trying to lighten the mood. “He was looking a bit pale when I last saw him.”

“He’s not good with being the center of attention. We best get out there,” she said. “Turn the attention away from him and onto us.”

“Exactly. Show him that we’re there to give him a helping hand.”

As they walked towards the door, Riona smiled. For the first time that day, it was a sincerely happy one. “Thank you, Fergus.”

“For?”

“Being our family. When we both need it the most.”


End file.
